Ruth Blasco, a researcher at the Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social

Evolution in Tarragona, Spain, and colleague Josep Fernandez Peris found and analyzed 202 duck bones from the cave. The birds appear to have been fire roasted and hominid-nibbled to the bone. Here's the story in photos:

(All images provided by Ruth Blasco.)

Tooth-marked duck bones

Hearths found in Bolomor Cave, Spain

Ruth Blasco in her lab

Bolomor Cave stratigraphy. The duck bones were found on Level 11, which corresponds to the Middle Pleistocene period. Other levels yielded Neanderthal and modern human remains, so this cave housed many hominids over the years.

Photos showing the cave site

The excavation

Please visit The Real Cavemen to learn more about Homo heidelbergensis and other early cave dwellers.